


Death's (c)row(n).

by IoccasionallyWriteStories



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Historical, Angst, Child Abuse, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Found Family, Getting Together, M/M, Revolution, Slavery, bc thats good shit, it's heavier than i usually write lmao, its a v vague setting, romeo is a prince, royal au, specs is his personal guard, the rape tag is more a vague allusion to it but i wanna b sure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-19 09:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18133673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IoccasionallyWriteStories/pseuds/IoccasionallyWriteStories
Summary: Desperate to (re)gain the respect of his uncaring father and siblings, prince Romeo sets off on a mission with his personal guard Specs, two inmates on death row and the girl who tried to kill him.Chapter 1: There's an elatedness within Romeo today that outs itself in all possible forms. He's bouncing all over the place while humming little songs. Although the age of twenty-one is noted to be the age of maturity, those who have passed that mark know that that particular age still has plenty hints of childishness in it, mixed with maybe a little bit of maturity if one is lucky enough. Ah well, Specs supposes he shouldn't beat around the bush. Recently turned twenty-one years old Romeo is still a fool.





	1. Balls going in the wrong direction ;)

There's an elatedness within Romeo today that outs itself in all possible forms. He's bouncing all over the place while humming little songs. Although the age of twenty-one is noted to be the age of maturity, those who have passed that mark know that that particular age still has plenty hints of childishness in it, mixed with maybe a little bit of maturity if one is lucky enough. Ah well, Specs supposes he shouldn't beat around the bush. Recently turned twenty-one years old Romeo is still a fool.

"Specs", Romeo says in a singsong voice and twirls him around, opening a soundless waltz. "Tonight is my birthday party. People will be paying attention to me, all night long. It will be glorious."

"Careful", Specs remarks, "You almost started to sound modest. We can't have that, right?" He gets an elbow in the side for the comment and a pout too. "Specs don't be like that, let me be vain and pretentious today." Specs arches an eyebrow at that. "Today?"

"I can admit that I'm quite vain and pretentious on the reg, but then I only bother you with it. Today I can bother other people, I mean, isn't that what balls are for? Rich people trying to impress each other by letting their jewellery rattle as they move across the dance floor, ladies 'subtly' mentioning how much their dresses cost and from how far the fabrics were imported. Balls are no place for modesty and honest words and tonight I will revel in birthday wishes from people who don't mean it. Let me have a bit of fun."

"That doesn't sound depressing at all." Romeo laughs before stopping their impromptu little dance. "Well, Specsy dearest, it is what it is." The young man clicks open his pocket watch and after taking a quick peek, he puts it away again. "I've got two more hours that I can waste before the dressing ladies will come personally hunt me down. I'll be helping out in the kitchen, would you care to accompany me?"

Normally, Specs wouldn't even consider saying no, but today is quite a bit different. "I'm afraid I can't. We're having a meeting concerning the safety of your ball. We're gonna go over the different emergency plans one more time and I already know that it's gonna be a complete and utter chaos. I'm going to keep a stupid-question-tally."

"Alrighty then! See ya later!" Seconds later, Romeo has run off towards the kitchens. He wonders if the young man will turn up with a head full of flour again, making his dressers miserable as hell. If they weren't as fond of Romeo as they are now, one of them certainly would've probably already killed him.

Things don't go exactly as planned and Specs is held up for exactly fifteen minutes too long. As he subtly mingles with the crowd, he scans the ballroom in search of Romeo. You'd think that the birthday boy would stick more out, but people seem to be more interested in his older siblings, who all look like they'd rather be anywhere else.

Romeo is the youngest of seven and all of his older brothers speak to the imagination. There's Kay, the oldest and the heir to the throne, who's married to the princess of a neighbouring country. He's mostly silent and radiates power.

Then there's Arthur, younger, brasher and bolder. He's not married and claims he never will be. There's nothing he likes more than picking his older brother's logic apart, questioning his every move and reminding him that he's gladly take over the throne, should Kay prove himself unworthy.

William, the oddball, is the third son. His writing is unparalleled, witty and humorous and downright scandalous too. Scandalous is also a term that could be applied to the man in general. He woes who he wants and often gets who he wants. His wife doesn't like it very much.

The twins, Thibeau and Mercer, do not get along in any way shape or form. However, one should not want to face them on the battlefield. Their combined minds come up with crazy solutions and victory is nearly always guaranteed with them on your side.

Elisabeth is a woman that possesses wisdom beyond her years. Her stern demeanour makes people take her seriously as do her truthful words. She prefers to not speak all too often, but when she does, it burns through your soul.

Guests who have nothing better to do than search for the riches of the family, 'politely' crowd the famous siblings. The unmarried ones get showered in attention from potential suitors, while the others get various offers of friendship and alliances.

Specs finds Romeo in a corner of the enormous ballroom, nursing a glass of wine in his hand. His first instinct is to take it away, but then his brain catches up with the current events and he remembers that Romeo is allowed to drink now. The man takes a sip, pulls a face and swaps it in for one of the flutes filled with apple juice meant for little kids. He looks quite unhappy, sipping his apple juice like that.

"Not a fan of the wine?" Specs asks smiling and Romeo's face brightens. "There you are! I was doubting you'd show up."

"Why? You know I'm required to be by your side at practically all times. That's what the personal guard job entails, sir." The smile slips of Romeo's face again. "Ah yes requirements, the only reason why one would be here tonight." He takes a quick glance at his siblings and bites his lip. There's an emotion in his eyes that Specs can't pinpoint and before he has the chance to try harder, Romeo replaces it with another brilliant smile. "Well a party without the main guest dancing, that simply won't do. Would you share a dance with me?"

"You could have each and everyone one of my dances if you'd just ask", Specs replies and Romeo swats his chest. "Oh you charmer", he jokes and pulls Specs to the dance floor.

It's only when they're standing upright and under one of the lights, that Specs notices just how gorgeous Romeo looks. He'd previously told him that twenty-one would be the age where he'd pay a homage to his mother and her country and he's kept his word. Romeo stands out in the light blue barong and matching pants and from close by, Specs can see all the little Sampaguitas woven into the fabric.

"You are looking especially handsome tonight", he remarks and Romeo smiles that charming little smile, slightly askew and gap-toothed. It's not a habit of his to show his teeth when he smiles in public, but it's a little perk that Specs gets to enjoy by being Romeo's closest friend. "And you're being especially flattering. What's the matter, is there something you want?"

"Nothing you can give, so you shouldn't worry about me being dishonest." They exchange a few looks, combined with tilted heads and facial gestures that must look quite strange to outsiders. "I didn't mean to question your honesty, I'm just feeling very...blerghhhh."

"Eloquent. Maybe you should ask someone else for a dance instead of clinging to me? Meeting new people might be fun." Romeo pulls another face. "If I as much as look at a girl for longer than two seconds, rumours about our future wedding will have been spread throughout the city before we even started to dance. I'm not in the mood for complications, I'm fine right where I am."

Specs should probably protest for Romeo's own good, but he can't help but agree with Romeo's statement. He too is fine right where he is, dancing with an impossibly gorgeous man. The lights do him absolute justice, capturing the sparkling bits of his clothing, making him stand out like a gently shimmering star amidst a crowd of people trying to even the sun.

They look too glamorous, kitschy even while Romeo looks simply radiant. And yet, there's something on the younger man's mind that dulls his shine, pulls the corner of his lips down and Specs wishes he could make his sadness disappear with just the flick of his hand.

After the song ended, Romeo had let go of his hands. He doesn't seem to want to take another twirl through the ballroom, until a lovely looking girl appears in front of him. "Good evening, my Lord. Do you care for a dance?" Her short dark hair doesn't reach past her shoulders and her dress is cute, but as Specs inspects her, he can't help but notice that her whole wardrobe is considerably more... modest than every other noble present.

Specs doesn't even need to look at Romeo to know that the man is starstruck and probably already in love. Before Romeo can agree, Specs tugs him back by his elbow and switches to the old Al-Verean language, usually only spoken by royals such as Romeo himself. "She's awfully casual."

"People are casual, Specs", Romeo replies in the same tongue, still glancing at the girl. She gives him a wink and then Romeo finally turns to face Specs, cheeks red. Rolling his eyes, Specs continues his spiel. "She didn't address you in the right way either. That's not flirty, that's downright boorish or she doesn't know how royal balls usually go. What I'm getting at is that there is a big chance she doesn't belong here. Let me go check with someone else, stay here."

As Specs disappears from his sight, Romeo glances at the girl in front of him. She holds her hand out, lips stretched in a cheeky smile. Taking her hand, he muses that he technically isn't going against Specs' orders. He's staying in the same place, so he's doing well, right?

Fuck staying in the right place, Romeo thinks as she slams him into a wall. Shivering and with eyes blown wide, it seems as though all logic has abandoned him. "Aren't you cute?" she muses. It's very hard to think when someone's looking at you like they'd rather eat than kiss you. And yet, she does the latter and Romeo melts.

When Specs returns with the confirmation that the girl does not fit any description of any of the guests on the list and doesn't see Romeo, he knows that everything is gonna go to shit. There's an absolute certainty in his bones that the other man is going to end up dead if Specs doesn't find him soon. Alerting several members of the guard, they stalk around the palace in search of the young prince.

For some reason, he clashes with Romeo and his female companion in the grand ballroom. She has his wrist in a loose grip as she saunters up to the king. When they pass Specs, he immediately notices the blankness in Romeo's eyes, the uneven treads he takes and the agonizingly slow breaths he takes.

Before he can step in, she whips out a knife and forces Romeo to his knees, knife held to the man's throat. Romeo buckles over and if it weren't for the grip she has on his hair, he would've slammed face first unto the ground. "Sir", she addresses the king, who had seen the scene play out. "Please fix the problems in the Hi-Ey region. Also, you've got a friend of mine in your cells. Their name is Snipe-Andy Wah. Let them go and I'll let him", she shakes Romeo, "go too."

As the girl focuses on the king and his (lack of a) reaction, Specs chooses to act. With a quick, deft wack aimed at her neck, she lets go of both the knife and Romeo and slumps into a heap to the floor. He calls a few other guards over to deal with the girl and rolls Romeo over to inspect him.

From this close, Specs notices that the slow breaths are very controlled and the blankness in his eyes has been traded in for concentration. "M kay", he slurs. "Prolly notting gonna happen, feel drunk thas all. Which's kina fun..funny considrin' Iv've neva been drunk befoh." The man giggles and that combined with his speech does indeed make him look drunk as hell. "Let's get you to your quarters", Specs mumbles after seeing the expression on the king's face. Outwardly, he looks calm until you reach his eyes and see the sheer fury hidden in them. He quickly drapes Romeo's arm over his shoulder and makes sure he's gone before that fury gets unleashed.

Because Romeo's fingers aren't willing to cooperate, Specs helps him out of his shirt as Romeo blinks droopily. "M'dad is angry, ain't he?" Specs hums in agreement, because there is no use in denying it. Romeo flops down on his bed. "Ah man." His speech has already cleared up, thanks to his poison training. "I'm gonna have so much apologizing and grovelling to do." Sighing, he closes his eyes and quiets down.

Since he doesn't say anything for a good two minutes, Specs assumes that he has fallen asleep and moves to get up to his own bedroom. "Specs, would ya mind staying?" Romeo murmurs quietly and Specs moves to the second bed in the room (it isn't the first they've had to room for some reason), but Romeo tugs him on his bed and whines in Specs' chest. "Stay here", he pouts and Specs laughs softly.

"Sure buddy, but let me get some clothes of first, sleeping with too many weapons just isn't comfortable." As he manoeuvres Romeo off his chest, the man frowns. "Just how many weapons do you carry on your person?" As he unbuttons his vest, Specs smiles. "Professional secrecy, can't tell ya", he says as he casually shoves his sword underneath the bed, followed by a few daggers and a pair of brass knuckles. Romeo snorts at the sight of them. "You're ridiculous."

"I am following protocol to keep you safe. Which, by the way, you should've done too." Romeo buries his face in the crook of Specs' neck at the gentle scolding. "I know", he whines and Specs laughs at the ticklish feeling it causes. "I'm sorry", Romeo continues. "I wasn't thinking with my head. Or at all, if I gotta be honest." Sighing, Specs wraps his arms around the smaller man. "I know, but you should be mindful at all times. Just because you forget your social position doesn't mean others will." Romeo doesn't answer that and only mutters a "good night" before nodding off.


	2. Character building is essential to the story.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You remember when you first came here?" Arthur asks, seemingly careless, but Specs knows better. "You may talk, by the way", the man adds and Specs manages to bring out a single "yes" without stuttering or faltering otherwise. Nonetheless, the man continues his little tale. "I was sure you'd kill us all given the chance before your relatively short stay in our dungeon. But after that fun outing, that moment of, I think I'll call it character building." Arthur tightens his 'friendly' grip on Specs' shoulders and he knows what's about to happen.

The next morning, Specs wakes up because of the sun beaming down on his face. It's annoying and he doesn't want to get up and attempts to ignore the sun. It doesn't work very well. Wait...the sun? In an instant, Specs bolts out of the bed, trying to get dressed as soon as possible. He has to check in with the head of security every morning at six and it's well over seven already. Combine that with yesterdays absolute blunder and Specs' would've been fired if he had been hired in the first place. Instead, he probably only increased his debt to the royal family and increased his years along with that. He isn't sure how to feel about that. 

 

When he meets with the man, still in yesterdays clothes and his hair a mess of curls, he barely spares Specs a glance and refers him to prince Arthur. That is..certainly unusual. It isn't as though Specs hadn't expected punishment, he knows he's going to get an earful for neglecting his duties. However, he had expected it to come from his boss or the king himself. Maybe even Kay, as he is the oldest. 

 

He finds Arthur in the gardens and the man happily waves at him from the bench he's sitting on. "Hi glasses!" he shouts exuberantly and Specs ignores the familiarity. "Your royal highness", he greets back. The man waves it off. "Glasses, when are ya gonna drop the formalities?" 'When you get my name right', Specs thinks absent-mindedly and snaps his attention back to the conversation.

"Yesterday was a shitstorm", Arthur comments and laughs. "Litttle Roro's drunkenness was off the charts ! That boy's gonna grow up partying."

The offhand remark rubs Specs in all the wrong ways. "Your younger brother got poisoned-"

"Did I give you permission to talk?" There's a dangerous glint in the older man's eyes that immediately makes any smartass comments Specs could've made die in his throat. He looks away, not even shaking his head because he knows it'll be taken as a sign of rebellion. Arthur's face clears up and he laughs again, the sound grating on Specs' nerves. "Oh glasses, you really are an obedient guard dog, aren't ya? That kid really made a nice choice of picking up a stray like you. Well, at least so we thought until yesterdays disaster."

Ah there it is, the accusation. Now comes the fun part, punishment. Arthur swiftly gets up and gestures for Specs to follow him. He does so, head raised and expression flat, unimpressed but on the inside he's shaking. This is bad, really bad and even worse is the fact that Specs doesn't know what is coming, so he can't prepare for it. He slowly breathes in and out, trying to keep it as inconspicuous as possible.

"You remember when you first came here?" Arthur asks, seemingly careless, but Specs knows better. "You may talk, by the way", the man adds and Specs manages to bring out a single "yes" without stuttering or faltering otherwise. Nonetheless, the man continues his little tale. "I was sure you'd kill us all given the chance before your relatively short stay in our dungeon. But after that fun outing, that moment of, I think I'll call it character building." Arthur tightens his 'friendly' grip on Specs' shoulders and he knows what's about to happen.

"You totally turned around! We even gave ya a job and all you had to do was keep my darling brother safe and out of sight so no one gets bothered with whatever he's up to. And yet, you couldn't even do that. Now every person of importance knows what an embarrassment that kid is." Arthur sighs in disappointment and shakes his head. "So we're gonna go back to that little character building moment, the family thinks you need it!" The man is still smiling when he orders Specs to hand over all weapons on his person. Arthur is involved in minor military duties both in and out the castle, so he knows exactly what Specs is carrying.

He tries not to let his fingers shake too much when he hands everything over. Arthur also hands him some spare clothes and allows him the privacy to change. "Can't have the festive garb gettin all dirty, right bud?" Arthur winks as he leaves the dungeon. "Have fun buddy!" he calls out as a few men drag Specs into the darkness.

Although he can't recall the details of what happened the last time he was here (his mind refuses to take him there), he fears it. These goons with steel grips are people he hasn't seen before, so he knows that there won't be any mercy. As they drag him through the badly lit hallway, he lays eyes on the girl from yesterday, although she's behind bars now. As they cross paths she hisses at him and Specs has the feeling that that's the friendliest interaction he's gonna get for hours (days? weeks?).

 

There is a disturbingly but also comforting blankness in his mind that stays there until someone flops into his view. "Holy shit, they got you good", the person breathes and Specs hazily looks up at them. "Uhm hi", they say, "You can call me Sniper. I'm a boy right now, should you be wondering. You should probably fix all of this", he says and gestures in Specs general direction. "I can't see a lot in this hellhole, but I have come to the conclusion that you look like shit."

Slowly, Specs gets more aware of his surroundings. He's in a cell with Sniper, who's eyeing him curiously from a distance. His head is pounding and he's pretty sure he tastes blood in his mouth. As he tries to get up, pain slams into him and he falls on his back again, gasping for air. "Dude, I'd stay down if I were you. Lights, some water and a rag are on their way, stay put for now."

His consciousness is already starting to fade when light footsteps can be heard. "Holy shit, Specs is that you?" Specs looks at the owner of the voice and smiles. "Hello, JoJo. How are you doing?" The other man quickly unlocks the door and shuts it behind him before Sniper can slip out of the cell. He lights the candles he brought with him and whistles when he can properly see Specs. "Damn dude, they got ya real good. What happened yesterday? I heard a lot of rumours, but since I was stuck here, I don't know the details."

He gives Specs a friendly poke in the side, but he doubles over in return. "Ah yes, shit, sorry. Let me help." He helps him out of his ratty shirt and while JoJo fusses about him, Specs inspects his own bruises. His right rib area is a very nasty shade purple and the other side has some minor bruising and a few cuts. They aren't too deep, but JoJo cleans them nonetheless. In the reflection of the candle holder, he can see fingerprints around his neck. The more he looks, the more he notices that all of his injuries would be completely covered.

His uniform has a high collar, so even the bruises on his neck would be invisible. While he wonders what that means, JoJo hands him an item. It's a left-handed glove. When he turns to JoJo in confusion, the man shrugs. "Another guard told me to give it to you", he explains and Specs takes a look at his left hand. Curious how a few nails can disappear without you remembering it happened. "Lord", JoJo breathes and Sniper's mouth twists in disgust. "Man, what did you do?"

Romeo wakes up without Specs by his side. Lately, Specs has been pulling away from him more and more, both physically and emotionally, so it really isn't a surprise to find him gone. Last night, Specs-his-best-friend had been more present than Specs-his-personal-guard and he had been joking and dancing with him. But another day has begun and Specs is on duty again. 

 

"Young sir?" Buttons' head peeks around the corner. Romeo waves his usual dresser in, while telling Buttons to drop the title. "I'm like, eight months, five days and three hours younger than you, old man." Buttons parks himself on Romeo's bed and starts snacking on the breakfast that was probably meant for Romeo. "Whatever dude, I was still kinda in the hallway. I gotta cover my own ass, ya know?" Romeo nods and Buttons throws him a grape.

"Get dressed ya fuck and hurry up. Daddy dearest is looking for you and man, I'm glad I'm not you right now. Brace yourself, you've got a big storm coming honey." Romeo dresses himself as Buttons keeps blabbering on about the supposed romance between one of the chefs and one of the people working in the stables. Romeo's mama raised him right, so he knows how to put on clothes (it shouldn't be as big a surprise as it is, but yeah, nobles are lazy). He likes having Buttons around to talk to and Buttons gets paid really well, so he isn't complaining either.

A polite knock on the door warns them about another person about to enter and Buttons scrambles off Romeo's bed and quickly takes the leftover clothes. As Buttons drapes a shirt over Romeo's under shirt with more dramatics than actual skill, Elisabeth enters. She ignores Buttons' entire presence and takes a chair close to the door. 

 

"Romeo", she addresses him and it's in that moment he knows he's lost all her respect. His older sister usually refers to each and every one of her brothers as 'Sir my brother' and if she's fond of them she may even attach a name to it (this only happens to Kay and William). "Yes?" he asks wearily and the older girl smiles. "It was a nice party, wasn't it? Plenty of people for a seventh in line. Father sure has a lot of acquaintances. And then that girl appeared and poisoned you. Very weak Belladonna extract, aren't I right?"

He nods and she sighs. "Even I recognized it and I was further away from her than you. You've proven yourself stupid once more. Even worse is the fact that you publicly put all of us to shame. You've reinforced your image as this family's laughing stock." She shakes her head. "And then of all the lessons, you choose to succeed in was surviving poisoning. Disappointing, really." He isn't sure whether she's implying that she wishes he had died or that he's a very stupid person. It's probably both. Elizabeth is clever like that, he admires that about his older sister.

"You know what's the worst?" she asks and he doesn't answer. Although her face doesn't reveal anything, he can guess that it's a rhetorical question. "You actually thought she liked you. You should know better. Grow up." After those words she leaves and Romeo releases a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "Geez, talk about mean siblings, she's a bitch."

"Refrain from speaking about my sister in that tone." From the corner of his eyes, he can see Buttons flinch at the harsh tone and he bites his lip. "Sorry", Romeo says, "She's just right you know? It was an avoidable situation, I should have known better. She's teaching me that I've done something wrong. Her wording may be a bit harsh, but that is tough love." 

 

Buttons scoffs. "That is neither tough love nor sibling love. Tough love is my grandma rolling her eyes at my stitches, but then helping me correct them. Sibling love is my elder sister laughing at me because I puked on someone's shoes after kissing them. The person, not the shoes. After that she made me cake to cheer me up though, so you see, there's always a happy bit too it. That's the love in tough love. Your sister just called you stupid, there's no love in that." 

 

Romeo decides to ignore that and finishes dressing. "Thanks for the talk Buttons, I'll see you later", he says rather flatly and quickly leaves the room. He has other things to do. In one of the hallways, he stumbles upon his oldest brother Kay, who grabs him by the arm as he tries to pass. "Come", is all Kay says before dragging him to the throne room.

His father is intimidating even on his best days, but right now, he's downright terrifying. Kay throws Romeo to the floor and he catches on pretty quickly and stays kneeled, bowing his head as his father walks up to them. Kay has a tight grip on the back of his neck and Romeo feels like walls are closing in on him. He can see his father's shoes halting right before him, but doesn't dare to look up. The disapproving silence is nerve-racking.

Finally, he breaks it, with a controlled but not at all calm voice. "Do you know how much you've embarrassed me? In front of the rulers of other countries? Do you know what sort of disaster you've caused?" He grabs Romeo by the chin, forces his gaze up and delivers a cold, swift punch to his face. As sprawls across the floor, his father seethes. "Thanks to you, boy, the queen of Eshrehl pulled out of our trading pact! She's also considering breaking all ties with us and the only one in our family she sort of respects is Elizabeth and that girl is going to have a hard time convincing her." 

 

This time, he grabs Romeo by his hair and drags him upwards. The young man has to stay on his toes to lessen the pain. "Listen to me boy and listen well", his father growls and Romeo does so, obediently. "You have failed me, greatly and if it weren't for your mother's will, I wouldn't even have taken you in. Disobeying the queen of Phli-Izen's last wish would have thrown our countries into a war, so I didn't. At four o'clock, you will be punished, but you will choose a fitting punishment yourself. Learn some responsibility." The older man lets his youngest son drop to the floor again and exhales loudly. "Look at what you're making me do, Romeo. I don't like punishing you or your little playmate (Specs? Where is he? Romeo thinks), but you leave me no choice. Kay, my son, teach Romeo a lesson will you?"

Addressing people shouldn't be a thing one regularly thinks about, but Romeo is doing it again. In his father's eyes, he's always 'Romeo', while his siblings are 'his son or his daughter'. It stings a little bit, but not quite as much as Kay's heeled foot landing on his hand. "Stand up and fight me", his older brother orders calmly and Romeo has no weapons on him. Kay takes a swing at him with his sword.

Immediately, Romeo scrambles backwards, searching for something to defend himself with. His eyes land on the sword in the throne (a fun Mage had put it in there a few eons ago, spouting some bull about the one who'd unite nations with it. It's crap because the leaders all hate each other) and he knows that he isn't gonna be able to pull that thing out. He knows that because he tried it when he was three years old. 

In the end, Kay is too fast and too strong, but he goes easy on Romeo and he gets away with only a few minor scrapes and one deeper cut on his arm that looks like it might need medical examination. As he lays flat on his back, Kay's sword pressed against his throat, his older brother gives him a blank stare. Then he draws the weapon abruptly back and kneels down next to Romeo. He places his hand on Romeo's forehead and slams his head unto the ground. "Be better", he states before leaving the room. 

 

Slowly, Romeo drags himself from the floor and winces a little when the blood from his arm stains his clothes. He's making Buttons' work harder. He takes another deep breath and gathers his thoughts. Kay is the oldest, so if he's disappointed in Romeo, he had fucked up more than ever. He hates disappointing Kay the most, because he has a good relationship with his fifteen year older brother. He had never turned down a practice session and with his sword, he had always made known where Romeo was lacking. So Romeo should find a really good punishment for himself if he wanted his older brother's respect back. 

 

As he walks over to the infirmary, he passes William. His older brother doesn't spare him a glance and that's okay. That's the usual and Romeo can deal with that, it's fine. He hasn't seen Arthur today, but should he stumble upon him, he knows that his brother would give him a slap on the back and laugh at him. 

 

As the nurse cleans the wound, the twins Thibeau and Mercer enter, bickering as always. "And here we see the evidence of his mom's influence", Thibeau laughs, gesturing at Romeo. Now that's a thing that gets to him. Within seconds he's on his feet and has Thibeau's shirt balled in his hand. "You leave my mom out of this", he hisses viciously. Mercer is quick to come to his twins help and once again Romeo gets a blow to the head. He thinks he can see Mercer roll his eyes before everything goes dark. 

 

When another pair of footsteps can be heard in the dungeons, JoJo scrambles away with lightning speed, while Specs hastily gets into his shirt again. Sniper also scrambles backwards and fades into the darkness. Their door gets thrown open and although Specs would like to join Sniper in his hiding place, he forces himself to smile. "Good day Sir", he greets the man whose face has haunted him for years.

Just like twelve years ago, he doesn't say anything as he gestures with his head for Specs to get up. It's reminiscent of his near-execution, but he's suspecting that there won't be a 'near' now. 

 

His suspicions only gets worse as he gets escorted into a room, where a nice, steaming bath is waiting for him. There is also a set of clothes and upon closer inspection, they seem like a fancier version of his uniform. His festive garb from yesterday seems like trash compared to this and he now knows for sure that he's on death row. There's only one thing missing now.

"Is there anything you'd like to eat?" The older man asks passively and Specs flinches, but manages to keep it out of the man's view. "No, thanks", he replies just as monotonously and the man leaves the room through the sole door and Specs can hear the key turning in the lock, barring him from going out. Eyeing the bath, he decides to not look a gift horse in the mouth. 

 

As Specs clicks the last clasp into place, somebody knocks on the door. "Are you done?" Rubbing his neck nervously, Specs calls out with a quiet "yeah". As soon as he notices his own nervous tick, Specs shoves his hands into his pockets. The door swings open and Specs leaves the room. 

 

They walk side by side in total silence until the other man breaks it. "Not gonna hurl insults at my head like last time?" the man jokes, his tone light. "I was a stupid eleven year old last time", Specs snaps back and retreats in his own head again. A stupid eleven year old with nothing to lose. "It's been that long?" the man asks, humming but Specs doesn't see the need to answer to that. "You're more nervous now. Got something to lose, kid?"

Once again he doesn't dignify the man with an answer, but his breathing speeds significantly up when he thinks about all the things he has to lose. "Okay, wrong question", the man says and halts. "Deep breaths in and out kid and give me a sign if you need more precise instructions." Still struggling, he tries to regain his composure as the other man gives him instructions in a gentle tone. When he can finally breathe normally again he shoves the older fellow away from him.

"Fuck you", he spits. "This whole 'I'm nice' spiel is the reason you are the only thing from then that lodged itself inside my brain. Stop it, it's bothersome. Let me forget." A rueful smile plays along the old man's lips. "Sorry kid. I do not like this job very much either, but it is what it is. If I can make the last moments a little bit lighter, why shouldn't I?" He lets his shoulders drop and runs his hand through his curls. "I'm sorry sir, it's not your fault. However, would you mind if I didn't talk to you at all? My heart wouldn't be in the conversation anyway." He gets a pat on the back in return. "Nah, it's alright. You're more polite than most people passing through here anyway."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I’m rivertellsstories in tumblr if u have q’s or if u just wanna say hi.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi y'all! Thanks for reading! If you want, you can find me on tumblr, where I am rivertellsstories. See ya in the next chapter :)


End file.
